|
Louisiana seafood interests are looking to have political leaders help educate suppliers on the availability and safety of Gulf seafood. (Photo: NOAA)
Industry leaders assure Gulf seafood is safe and available
UNITED STATES
Friday, May 07, 2010, 16:10 (GMT + 9)
Seafood industry leaders met to discuss the state of Louisiana’s seafood and declare that it continues to be safe and available.
New Orleans-Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board (LSPMB) representatives and Gulf Oyster Industry Council (GOIC) representatives met in Washington, DC, with Gulf Coast delegates and officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to discuss the current state of the Louisiana seafood industry.
LSPMB Chairman Harlon Pearce said he hopes US congressional leaders will assist Louisiana seafood fishers by educating national seafood suppliers, restaurants and their constituents that Louisiana seafood continues to be both available and safe to eat.
Further, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is assuring consumers and retailers that seafood will remain safe and no expectations of seafood shortages or wild price fluctuations exist despite the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
"The two categories of Louisiana seafood that will greatly be affected will be the oyster and crab industry," said Donald Rouse, president of Thibodaux, Louisiana-based Rouses Supermarkets.
He noted that 50 per cent of the area's oyster beds and 70 per cent of the area’s crabs are harvested to the east of the Mississippi River – where the oil has hit.
However, 77 per cent of Louisiana’s total seafood production is harvested west side of the Mississippi River, he stressed.
"These waters are unaffected by the spill and remain open," Rouse affirmed, Supermarket News reports.
Rouses has launched advertising campaigns to assuage consumers’ concerns about the safety of the seafood it offers. He added that the firm will continue to guarantee that all products have been checked for safety before exiting the fishing vessels.
“The Department of Health and Hospitals, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and other state agencies have closed areas that might be impacted by this spill as a precaution,” Pearce said, “So consumers can be confident that the Louisiana seafood on the market is coming from the state waters that have not been affected by the spill and is fresh, quality Louisiana seafood.”
Louisiana seafood is a USD 2.4 billion-industry and over 30 per cent of the seafood production in the continental US comes from that state.
Related articles:
- Seafood businesses may suffer from Gulf oil catastrophe
- Gulf seafood allegedly safe to eat despite oil spill
By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA/NMFS
|
Print
